Wurkkan
Wurkkan is a planet in the Krokator Star Empire's Middle Ring which is a moon of the gas giant Wulkk, the third planet in line from the star Abkedor. As the furthest Middle Ring world from Rukkur and due to economic mismanagement during its settlement, Wurkkan is the poorest planet per capita in the KSE and suffers from chronic depressions, in particular during poor crop pulls. With minimal natural resources beyond rich soil in the equatorial plateaus and with sparse native life, Wurkkan is overly reliant on agriculture as a primary industry and struggles to meet the Empire's quota system. Many provinces, in particular on the other side of the planet from the capital at Rankran, have gone through stages of open revolt and guerilla warfare against the local garrison. Etymology The name Wurkkan is derived from wurk, the Krokam word for "farm," when it was envisioned as a breadbasket farming center for the Middle Ring during the reign of Emperor Bansur Sundakk. Properties Wurkkan is one of six moons of the gas giant Wulkk, of which it is the largest. A terrestrial world, it is nearly the size of Mars. Wurkkan has naturally occurring oxygen levels suitable for krokator population. and was almost completely habitable upon initial terraforming. The planet has one single megacontinent which takes up almost 60% of the planet's surface area - the rest is shallow ocean with high traces of mercury and acidic contents from oceanfloor vents, making it mostly inhospitable for marine life. Rainwater on Wurkkan is safe for drinking, as are aquifers on the mainland. A Wurkkanosh day is roughly 14 hours long, and it has an axial tilt of 33 degrees that gives the upper and lower hemispheres extreme opposite seasons, leaving the equator as the most desirable place. Since most of the single continent is in the southern hemisphere, this leaves the northern third of the landmass as the most livable region. Wurkkan's orbit of Wulkk is low, so it avoids being caught in its parent's shadow. Only in the northern hemisphere, which is mostly unpopulated, is Wulkk visible in the night sky. Wurkkan's orbital period of the planet is 75 hours, called a "small month," and Wulkk's orbital period of Abkedor is 606 Terran days. Geography Wurkkan has a single continent, which is simply called "the Mainland." There are a number of small island chains, in particular along the continent's northern coasts, as well as a significant volcanic chain with large islands near the frigid extreme north. The seas are shallow, with the deepest point being a 9,000 foot-deep trench far from any landmass. The abyssal plains of the oceans are mostly flat and contain semi-volcanic vents that spew a mercury-heavy, highly acidic compound from the planet's mantle that have rendered the oceans mostly inhospitable for marine life - for this reason, there is no discernible fishing industry of any kind on Wurkkan. The Mainland is mostly flat along the northern two-thirds and is mountainous and volcanic in the cold, glacier-covered south. The highest point on the planet, Mount Sundakk, is located in an isolated region. It is the tallest volcano in the Empire. Much of the Mainland's central plain is arid and dry tundra, in particular the extreme interior. Closer to the northern coasts is good farmland, although the best farmland is on the two peninsulas at the continent's extreme northwestern edge. At the meeting place of these two peninsulas is the city of Rankran, the planetary capital, a city of two million. The mouth of Wurkkan's most important alluvial river, the Sadun, reaches the ocean a few miles down the coast from Rankran. Demographics Wurkkan has a population of one hundred and twenty million, making it the smallest of the Middle Ring world and the third-smallest world in the Empire. The Wurkkanosh have mottled gray skin due to the exposure of radio waves from Abkenor not found in other systems and the reflective nature of Wulkk on ultraviolet light onto the planet below. Out of this population, nearly fifty million live in abject poverty along the north-central coast or in the eastern provinces, and an additional twenty million live in poverty as well. With little incoming or outgoing traffic despite agricultural shipments, Wurkkan is considered the Empire's backwater, even the relatively wealthy western region. Wurkkanosh krokator view outsiders with suspicion, are more religiously conservative than their peers on other planets, and generally discourage immigration by or emigration to other Imperial cultures. Wurkkanosh have earned a reputation as being insular, fundamentalist and unwelcoming. In particular in the Wurkkanosh east, locals tend to subscribe to sects of the Imperial faith that are not directly endorsed by the High Temple but also not explicitly outlawed, leading to an awkawrd relationship with the mainstream adherent majority in Rankran and minority in the eastern provinces. Government Wurkkan's Mainland is divided into twelve provinces, all of which contain both northern coastline, central steppe and southern mountains. The most populous and wealthy is Rudang on the western end, which contains the Rudon and Shikung Peninsulas where most of the planet's best farmland is located as well as the capital of Rankran. The four easternmost provinces - Sendan, Hukan, Shakkna and Wunakk - generally refuse to acknowledge the authority of the Rankran government and have formed their own informal regional cooperative. More extreme elements in the east have sought to create a breakaway state that governs itself with all the trappings of an Imperial planetary government, essentially splitting Wurkkan's governing responsibilities in two. Category:Krokator Category:Planets Category:League of Planets Adventure